But Patterson, who contracted pneumonia last week, feels the Eagles owe him a little more than best wishes after placing him on the reserve/non-football illness list for the second time this season.

The move Wednesday to open up roster space to add tight end Emil Igwenagu was stunning in that it will it likely end Patterson’s tour with the Eagles. It also will cost him about $150,000 according to a report in the Inquirer.

The Eagles released a statement through their media relations department.

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“Our No. 1 priority is to get Mike Patterson well enough to get back on the football field,” the statement read. “He has worked hard this year to get back and he has our full support as an organization.”

J.R. Rickert, who represents the 29-year-old Patterson, confirmed that Patterson will take action if the Eagles don’t reach an equitable settlement.

“We will file a grievance if they don’t pay him the full contracted amount due,” Rickert responded via email.

At issue apparently is where Patterson contracted the pneumonia that was so debilitating he was hospitalized.

Earlier in the week Eagles head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder feared the illness would sweep through the team.

“We’re very worried about our team because we live like pack animals in here,” Burkholder said. “So we did a lot on Saturday morning to protect us before we left. We’re monitoring these guys. I’ve stood up in front of the team and said, ‘Anybody that has any kind of symptoms, you’ve got to come see me.’ Everybody that is a little bit sick we get over to the doctor’s office. Right now we think we’ve got it contained but we’re pretty worried about it.”

Patterson had nine tackles in a season shortened to five games due to pneumonia and his comeback from a craniotomy. Doctors wanted to be certain his skull was fully healed from surgery before putting him back on the field.

Patterson was not immediately available for comment.

Brent Celek’s streak of playing in every game of his career is over thanks to a concussion.

The Eagles listed the veteran tight end, second on the team with 51 receptions, out for their Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lincoln Financial Field.

Celek had played in 93 straight regular-season games, fourth among active tight ends and 98 games overall including the playoffs.

Igwenagu (6-2, 245) spent this season on the practice squad after signing as a rookie free agent out of Massachusetts.

Igwenagu (ig-wen-AH-goo) had 75 receptions for 821 yards and four touchdowns playing fullback, tight end, running back and linebacker.

NOTES: The Eagles signed defensive tackle Ronnie Cameron to the practice squad. Cameron (6-2, 295) is a rookie who spent one game on the active roster with the Browns. He’s a product of Old Dominion and Hofstra … The NFL Health and Safety department delivered an update about the safety of quarterbacks. This season, 24 of 32 NFL teams (75 percent) started the same quarterback in every game. It’s the most at this point of any season since at least 1970. Obviously the Eagles are among the eight that haven’t gone the distance with their starting quarterback due to injury. Ironically it’s an Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick, who suffered one of those concussions the league is trying to eliminate. The other teams that have had to go to another quarterback due to injury this season are the Cardinals, 49ers, Chiefs, Steelers, Bears, Titans, Jaguars.